Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-21

| MS guiding star through lie. LII was
from her lips he learnt his Bible, from
! her teaching he drank the sincere belief
in revealed religion which he never lost.
| It was she who imbued her great son with
an ineradicable belief in the efficiency OF
prayer, and in the reality of Gods inter
! position in the everyday affairs OF the
true believer. No SON. ever returned 8
mothers love with more heartfelt inten-
sity. She was his idol, and he wor-
SHIPPED her with the deep-seated, Unborn
love which is known only to the son in
whom filisl affection is strengthened by
respect and personal admiration for the
woman who bore him. He was for her all
/ in ell, or, as she described II, he was both
son and daughter to her. He watched
over her in weary hours OF pain, and
! served her with all that soft tenderness
which was such 8 marked trait in the
! character OF this great, stern leader Of
men.
He seems to have been throughout his
bOyhOod and early youth perfect in dis
position, in bearing, and in conducts
model of ell that was noble, honorable
and manly. OF the early life of very few
men can this be said, Many who have
| left behind the greatest regulations for
usefulness, in whom middle age was a
model of virtue and perhaps of self-denial,
/ began their career in WhirlWiDd of wild
! excess. Often, again, we find that, like
/ Nero, the YirtuOus youth develops into
the middle-aged tiend, who leaves behind
! him a name to be eXecrated for all time.
| 1t would be difficult to find in history q
great man, be he soldier or statesman,
with character so irreproaChable
| throughout his whole life as that which
in bOyhOOd, youth, manhood, and to mis-
! death, distinguished Robert E. Lee from
all contemporaries.
He entered the military academy at
West Point at the age of Is, where he
worked hard, became adjutant of the
cadet corps, and finally graduated at the
head of his class. There ne mastered the
theory of war and STUDIED the campaigns
of the great masters in that most ancient
of all sciences. Whatever he did, even
as boy, he did thoroughly with order
and method. Even at this early age he
vas the model Christian gentleman in
thought, word and deed. Careful and
exact in the obedience he rendered his
superiOrs, but remarkable for that dig
nifty of department which all through his
career struck strangers with admiring re-
speCt,
He left West Point when twenty-five,
having gained it's highest honors, and at
once obtained a commission in the en-
gineers. Two years afterward he mar
Tied the granddaughter and heiress of
Mrs. Curtis, whose second husband had
been General Washington, but by whom
she had no children. 1t was a great
match tor poor subaltern officer, as his
wife was heiress to q very extensive
property and to large number Of slaves.
She was clever, Well-eduCated, and gen
eral favorite; he was handsome, tall, we'll
made, with graceful figure, and good
rider; his manners were at once easy and
captivating. These young people had
long known one another, and each
was the others first love. She brought
with her as part of her fortune General
WashingtOn's beautiful property of
Arlington, situated on the picturesque
wooded heights that Overhsng the POtOm-
&C river opposite the capitol, to which
the great Washington had given his name.
In talking to me of the northern troops,
whose conduct in Virginia was then de-
nOunCed by every local paper, no bitter
expression passed mis- lips, but tears filed
his eyes as he referred to the destruc Ion
Of his place that had been the cherished
home of the father of the United States.
He could forgive their cutting down his
trees, their wsntOn conversion of his
pleasure grounds into q graveyard, but he
could never forget their reckless plumber
of all the camp equipment and other relics
Of General Washington that Arlington
House had contained.
Robert Lee first saw active service
during the American war with Mexico in
1916, where he was wounded, and evinCed
a remarkable talent for war that brought
himself prominently into notice. He was
afterWard engaged in operations against
hostile Indians, and obtained the reputa-
ton in his army OF being an able officer
of great promise. General Scott, then
the general of greatest reputation in the
United States, was especially attracted
by the zeal and soldierly instinct of the
young Captain of Engineers, and fire.
quently employed him on distant eXpedi-
tions that required cool nerve, confidence
and plenty of common sense. 1t is
curious fact that throughout the Mexican
war General Scott IN his dispatches and
reports, made frequent mention OF three
Otticers-Lee; Beauregsrd ana Mcclellan
whose names became household words
in America afterwerd, during the great
southern struggle for independence.
General Scott had the highest opinion of
Lees military genius, and did not hes
itste to ascribe much of his success in
Mexico as due to Lees "skilI, valor, and
undaunted energy" Indeed, subsequently,
when the day came that these two men
should part, each to take a different side
in the horrible contest before them,
General Scott is said to have urged Mr..
Lincoln's government to secure Lee at
any price, alleging he "Would be worth
$4,000 men TO them" His valuable |
services were duly recognized at Wash
ingtOn Dy more than one step of
brevet promotion. He obtained the rank |
of Colonel, and was given command of
cavalry regiment shortly afterwards.
must now pass to the most important |
epoch of his life, when the southern states |
left the Union and set up government of
their own. Mr.. Lincoln was in 1860 elect |
ed President of the United States in the |
interest. Both parties were |
so angry that thoughtful men soon began
to see war alone could end this bitter dis
pute. Shipwreck was before the vessel |
of state, which General Washington had |
butt and guided with so much care dur
ing his long and hard fought contest.